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Found Sound Pt. 1: Rebar Triangles

9",12", 21" Rebar Triangles with an Alan Abel triangle to show perspective

In the late 80's I found 3 sections of rebar in a dumpster. At the time I was teaching instrumental music at a middle school and one of my classes was teaching world music through percussion. We had explored some music of the United States and this time I wanted to teach Jazz. In our school the students were very much into Rock, Hip Hop, Country and some Reggae, but I was amazed that very few had any knowledge of Jazz. This rebar provided the solution.
I measured the length of each piece and marked them to form an isosceles triangle (thanks Euclid). Using a torch, I heated and bent them as close as I could to the proper angle. After each bend I quenched them in water. I now had a 9", 12", and 21" triangle and because of the water quenching, each had a relatively long sustained sound. A coating of silver paint finished the project.
The player would hold them in their hand as if playing in Latin style. This gave them the ability to play 'open' and 'closed' (o, +) strokes. Since rebar is ribbed the triangle could also be scraped like a guiro. The beaters were 1/4" steel rods.
I composed a short Swing piece in Rondo form that they memorized and performed at some of our Elementary Schools.
The Title reflects the Instruments and the Style of Music

































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Comments

  1. RonaldNovember 3, 2019 at 3:16 PM

    What exactly rebar? Is it a form of metal rod used for something specific? Or is it for some kind of musical thingy? BTW, looking at your triangles, I believe they are equilateral, not isosceles. But you can still thank Euclid. Can't wait to read Part 2.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A Percussionist's NotebookNovember 3, 2019 at 5:19 PM

    Rebar is short for reinforcement bar. It's placed into the 'form' as the concrete is poured.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Far Side of FiftyNovember 5, 2019 at 5:51 PM

    It sounds like it all worked well...:)

    ReplyDelete

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